Kally's Cauldron

Just one and a half more days till Samhain!! Munchkin is getting super excited and, let's be honest here, so am I!! I have everything planned out for Sunday evening so it looks to be a lot of fun. The boys will be spending pretty much the whole weekend in their costumes (well, Bean's is a sleeper) what with two playdates and the Halloween parade at church. Saturday night we're heading over to my in-laws house to meet my brother-in-law's fiancee from the Phillipines which should be very exciting. Hopefully we're able to make her feel welcome, both to Canada and the family!

Well, last but not least, a dessert is required for an evening such as Samhain and what could be more fitting than pumpkin pie...but not just any pumpkin pie....creamy pumpkin pie! I've been making this for a few year's now and my family just love it. It's no bake which makes it even easier! One warning though: make sure to use INSTANT pudding mix otherwise it doesn't solidify properly (trust me, I learned the hard way!)

Creamy Pumpkin Pie

1 cup canned pumpkin (or use fresh of course!)
1 ¼ cup evaporated milk
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp ginger (go easy)
1 regular size pkg Jello Vanilla INSTANT Pudding
1 baked and cooled 8” pie shell (I buy the pre-made graham ones)

Combine pumpkin, milk, salt and spices in a bowl. Add pudding mix. Beat slowly with an egg-beater until well mixed, about 1 minute. Pour into pie shell. Chill until set, about 2 hours.
Garnish with Cool Whip.

The countdown is on! Just 5 more days till Samhain! I’m super excited since this is the first year I’m celebrating the Sabbat as a Pagan (I had started following the path last year but never got around to really observing the holiday). It’s been fantastic exploring other blogs and getting fabulous ideas. Now I just have to spend some time piecing together what our Samhain will look like this year.

Well, we never quite made it to the pumpkin patch. Boo was sick so Sunday was spent doing a whole lot of nothing....literally. No brekkie, no church, no pumpkin patch. We did, however, have a fantastic family nap Sunday afternoon! That was well worth missing everything else! We’ll look for somewhere local to buy our pumpkin in the next few days.

I’d like to take my hat off right now to anyone reading who practices a vegan lifestyle. I know that everyone does it for their own unique reasons but I’m not sure anything could motivate me enough to give up meat AND dairy. I’ve mentioned before that Bean is a really fussy baby so in an attempt to see if it’s something I’m eating that’s upsetting his stomach, I’m on the breastfeeding elimination diet. For the next week, dairy is out. It’s been two days and I’m losing my mind! Not because I’m a huge fan of dairy, but because there’s milk and/or milk ingredients in EVERYTHING! And can I tell you, my morning coffee just isn’t the same without milk or cream. If it wasn’t for only a week, I’d probably try and seek out some alternatives but for the short time period, it just doesn’t seem worth it right now.

Gimme a T, gimme a G, gimme an I, gimme an F....what's that spell?
Thank Goodness It's finally Friday! Boo was working his support week and so left every day around 9:15am and got home about 8:30pm (except for Wednesday night when he arrived around 10pm). Munchkin has been go-go-go and Bean has been cry-cry-cry. I really wish I could figure out what was up with that little guy!
We have another insanely busy weekend ahead of us but at least we'll be together as a family! The plan is to go pick out our pumpkin on Sunday (weather permitting) so I'll be sure to have some photos of that! Otherwise it's a couple of get-together's with friends and a playdate (plus brekkie and church on Sunday morning).

Today's recipe isn't actually for food...I figure you need something festive and yummy to drink as part of your celebrations (or perhaps rit if you're like us and keep things "virgin" so Munchkin can partake). I don't have a picture but I'll try and make some up before Samhain and post it...otherwise it'll be part of the post-holiday wrap-up.

Apple Cider Punch

6 allspice, whole
6 cloves, whole
6 oz frozen lemonade
6 oz frozen orange juice
4 quarts apple cider
3 cinnamon sticks
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tsp ground nutmeg

Tie allspice and cloves into cheesecloth. Combine next 6 ingredients in slow cooker. Add spice packet and heat on Low for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Yummy :)

I’ve decided to learn how to sew. I’ve wanted to for quite some time but I figured I would probably have to wait until we had some spare money for a proper sewing machine so I sort of put it on the back burner. Then, when I was visiting my mom, she told me I was welcome to the sewing machine in her basement that belonged to my grandmother. It’s in fantastic condition and works great (I just need to buy some new needles) so hopefully in the next few months, I’ll be posting about my little practice projects! I’d also like to learn other types of needlework (knitting, crocheting, quilting etc) but I’ll start with this (as if I didn’t already have enough to do!!)

Now for today’s site:

In looking for websites specifically for Halloween, I came across this little place. It’s got most of the basics, but it has them all in one place which is always handy. Their History & Origin isn’t great but at least they don’t claim that it has anything to do with the Celtic God of Death, Samhain.
Really, Halloween Web is great for party ideas (which is where you’ll find a good deal of the content) and fun recipes. It looks like a good starting point if you’re not sure where to start. It’s definitely not a specifically Samhain site but it may help you think outside the box for house and altar decor as well as fun snacks to prepare for the big night!

Phew! This week has barely started and I’m already exhausted! Our weekend was ridiculously busy but, as always, lots of fun. Saturday morning we attended a local La Leche League meeting in the hopes of finding some new ideas on how to deal with our fussy, fussy Bean. We did get some good ideas and I’ll be trying a few things in the next four weeks (the time until the next meeting). After that we brought Munchkin to see some of his favourite TV characters live at a local mall. Too bad the poor kid was already exhausted, but he seemed to enjoy himself.

Sunday was the usual morning ritual of breakfast and church. Then it was home for a nap and then on to my in-laws for dinner. Monday morning I had a follow-up eye appointment (I had a nasty reaction to my contact lenses about a month ago) and then we visited with my mom for the rest of the day. The boys and I went shopping with my sister in the late afternoon and got home just in time to pop dinner into the oven. I put Bean to bed, Boo got home from work and spent time with Munchkin and then after a little down time, it was bedtime for us.

I typically use my bit of downtime between the kids going to bed and my bedtime to catch up with all the blogs I’m reading (the numbers grow almost daily!). I was over catching up at The Whimsical Cottage and she talked a little about her relationship with the Tarot. She asked some thought-provoking questions that made me decide to look a little further into MY relationship with the Tarot (which I warn is practically non-existent!). I’ve always been drawn to cards but, growing up, never owned a deck because my mom wouldn’t allow occult items in our house (if only she realized the origins of a deck of playing cards huh?) At a sleepover in high school, one of my friend’s mom’s did a reading for each of us and I just thought it was the coolest thing ever. Fast forward quite a few years and I started following my Pagan path. Suddenly, I looked at Tarot in a whole new light. It was no longer a rebellious game, but a legitimate way of learning new things about myself (and perhaps others) through divination. At this point in my life, we’re living on a really strict budget and so using a website that I found through another blog, I had Boo print out the images of the Rider-Waite onto cardstock (apparently he was really bored at work that particular day because he came home with the cards all cut and ready to go too!!) So far I’ve done one reading (yeah, I know...kinda sad, huh?) and I used a few sites online to get rough ideas for the meanings of the cards. I was actually pretty impressed at the accuracy of the reading. Basically the cards told me a little about who I was and who I’ve become....almost like they were saying “Yep, we know who you are and we’re looking forward to working with you”. I know a lot of people prefer to do it intuitively and I’m hoping to do that as well in future but since it was my very first time, I liked the idea of having something to work with and I’m so glad I did. That being said, I would love, one day, to be able to look through some other decks and find one that I really connect with, but until then, my homemade Rider-Waite and I will do just fine :)

Hop on over to Mrs. B's 31 Days of Halloween today and check out this aweome giveaway from I'm Not Hannah.
"Working with the winner, I'll create a charm catered to a specific need using natural items gathered from my garden or my travels."

Ok, so I'm cheating just a wee bit on this post. As I'm writing it's Monday night but I'm scheduling it to be posted on Tuesday because I happen to know that I'll be busy again tomorrow but don't want to let my blog fade in the meantime. I say this because I'm just hoping it'll work right.

We had a wonderful long weekend. It was Thanksgiving up here in the Great White North. Saturday, Boo and I brought the boys to Gatineau Park nearby to walk through nature and collect leaves for some fall crafts I'll be working on with Munchkin. We had a wonderful time...so wonderful in fact that here's a few photos.



Sunday we did our usual morning ritual of breakfast and church and then spent the evening with my mom, dad and little sister at dad's convalescence home. We had a great time!
Monday was "hang out in our pj's and do precious little" day and it was fantastic!! It seems like we're always on the run so having a day to just do whatever was great.
Now begins a new week so we'll see what this one has in store for us!

I was so excited to get this lovely little package yesterday evening

This is the beautiful giveaway I won from Mother Moon :) Everything in it is just incredible!! Thank you so much!!

Today's recipe would make a nice entree for Samhain.

Roasted Pork Tenderloin

1 lb pork tenderloin
½ tsp ground sage
garlic salt to taste
1 (32 ounce) jar sauerkraut, drained
½ apple, cut in half
½ onion, cut in half
1/3 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 325F.

Rub tenderloin with sage and garlic salt. Place tenderloin in a baking pan or casserole. Cover meat with half of the sauerkraut. Place the apple and onion, cut side down, on top of the sauerkraut. Cover with remaining sauerkraut. Sprinkle with brown sugar.

Cover and bake in preheated oven for 1.5 hours or until internal temperature has reached 160F.

I don't have a lot of time this morning but wanted to post about this neato giveaway.
Mrs. B and her 31 Days of Halloween has these gorgeous Ocean Heart Prayer Beads up for grabs from Sithmomma. "Hand made pagan prayer beads, Ocean Heart is crafted from glass beads and silver findings. There are three groupings of ten beads, each separated by a silver spacer bead. Ocean Heart will be a great addition to your meditation or ritual work."

I sat down to write this post at 9am and am only now (at 6pm) finally getting to actually writing it! Those boys of mine sure keep me hopping! It's another rainy day here but I guess that comes with the territory of autumn. I love the fall and I love the rain but it's getting a little excessive for my liking :) Moving along....


Let’s face it, one of the most complicated things you need to prepare for Samhain/Halloween is a costume! Costume Idea Zone has LOADS of ideas for homemade costumes for any age! I found a few cute ideas for my Munchkin that I hope I’ll be able to use this year!

Turn a box into any number of things...an aquarium, a box of popcorn....even a skill crane! Need an idea for you and your partner? How about a maid and butler? Or maybe A Roll in the Hay with the two of you in country clothes with straw coming out from random places (this one made me laugh!) The ideas are endless and even if you don’t find one that works for you specifically, it’s guaranteed you’ll get some great inspiration!

Here stands another week before us. It's been beautiful here the past few days (finally, after more rain than I've seen in ages!). I'm going to get the boys out soon to start collecting things for our Samhain altar. Once the caffeine kicks in anyway. Bean woke up...a lot...last night so I have that zombie feeling this morning.
This past Saturday, Bean and I participated in our local Breastfeeding Challenge and had a blast. The challenge itself is short and sweet but beforehand they had lots of great speakers talking about topics such as babywearing and breastfeeding resources in our community. They had some great door prizes and I was super excited when I won one (I rarely win anything!). I'm now reading my very own copy of The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding put together by La Leche League. If you or someone you know is nursing, I highly recommend it!!
I'm also very excited because I'm in the process of expanding my Pagan horizons. A dear friend of mine has invited me to join the study group of her Alexandrian Wiccan coven and I've started the process of joining a local women's spirituality group. I have limited contact at the moment with our local Pagan community because they meet bi-weekly on Sunday mornings for brunch (while we're at the UU congregation) and once a month on Wednesday nights (which as of yet hasn't worked, either because it's just not in the budget or I can't get a babysitter) I'm far too shy to attend any of the festivals until I have a few more aquaintances (kind of a catch 22, I know) so these will be wonderful things for me to expand my knowledge and hopefully with that, spirituality.

I'm starting to think I might have to make Monday's "giveaway" day. In reading my fave blogs today, I saw that jenandollie over at Ramblings of a Newbie Pagan is having a giveaway in honour of her one year blogging anniversary!
Since the traditional one year anniversary gift is paper, she's put together a beautiful bundle consisting of books, a calendar and even a dream catcher from her Littleun :) If you aren't reading her blog already, get over there and check it out.

Another busy day today so this is going to be short and sweet. I'm sure no one's complaining LOL

The besom is a perfect symbol for Samhain so why not make your own? I have yet to actually sit down and do this but I'm hoping to have one made in time for our Samhain celebration this year. These instructions are quoted directly from "Sabbats: A Witch's Approach to Living the Old Ways" by Edain McCoy.

Making a Besom

If you would like a Besom of your own, they are fairly easy to find in craft stores, country markets, or folk art fairs. You can also invest your energies into making one, a good idea if you wish to use it in place of a Wand or other ritual tool.
To make a Besom you will need a four-foot dowel one inch in diameter, a ball of twine, scissors, and straw or other long strands of pliable herbs.
Take the straw, or another herb you have chosen for the bristles, and allow them to soak overnight in warm, lightly salted water. The water softens the straws to make them pliable, and the salt soaks out former energies.
When you are ready to make your Besom, remove the straws from the water and allow them to dry a bit, but not so much that they lose the suppleness you will need to turn them into your Besom.
Find a work area where you can lay out the length of your dowel, and begin lining the straws alongside the dowel. Starting about three inches from the bottom, lay the straws, moving backward, along the length of the dowel. Begin binding these to the dowel with the twine. You will need to tie them very securely. You can add as many layers of straw as you wish, depending on how full you would like your Besom to be.
When the straw is secured, bend the top straws down over the twine ties. When they are all gently pulled over, tie off the straws again a few inches below the original tie. Leave the Besom overnight to allow the straw to dry.
The dowel part of the Besom can be stained, painted, or decorated with Pagan symbols, your Craft name, or any other embellishments you choose. Dedicate your finished Besom in your Circle as you would any other ritual tool.

TGIF!! Bean decided that 3:30am was a good wake up time so I'm a little sleep-deprived today. I can't wait for the weekend to start!

Well ladies and gents, it's October 1st! The countdown to Samhain is on and the blog party has commenced!
I decided for my recipe Friday's that I would essentially give a complete meal over the course of this month. Today's fare would be an excellent starter. It's actually the carrot soup that I ended up making for Mabon but would work perfectly for Halloween as well. Carrots aren't officially a symbolic food for this Sabbat but, dude, they're orange LOL. This recipe also contains apples (they're the secret ingredient) which ARE symbolic for Samhain so I figured it all balances out.

Carrot Soup

1 tbsp butter or margarine
1 lb carrots, chopped
1 Granny Smith apple, chopped
½ Red Delicious apple, chopped
½ tsp cardamom
¼ tsp parsley
1 cup chicken stock
2 cups water (or enough to cover)
1 cup milk

Place butter, carrots, apples, cardamom and parsley into a large stock pot and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add stock and water. Raise heat to bring soup to a boil. Turn heat to medium-low and continue to simmer for 30 minutes, adding extra water or stock as needed, until carrots are tender.

Pour soup into a food processor and blend until pureed, adding the milk as you go. Serve and enjoy!